Anatole France Quotes

French writer (1844–1924)

Anatole France (16 April 1844 – 12 October 1924), born Jacques Anatole François Thibault, was a French poet, journalist, and novelist. Ironic and skeptical, he was considered in his day the ideal French man of letters. A member of the Académie française, he won the 1921 Nobel Prize in Literature in recognition of his literary achievements. He is widely believed to be the model for the narrator's literary idol "Bergotte" in Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time.

From: Wikiquote (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Pen Names: Anatolis Fransas

Alternative Names: Jacques François-Anatole Thibault • François-Anatole Thibault • Anatole Thibault

From Wikidata (CC0)

Il se flattait d'être sans préjugés, et cette prétention était à elle seule un gros préjugé.

Savoir n'est rien, imaginer est tout.

Lovers who love truly do not write down their happiness.

Les amants qui aiment bien n'écrivent pas leur bonheur.

All the historical books which contain no lies are extremely tedious.

Les livres d'histoire qui ne mentent pas sont tout fort maussades.

I do not know any reading more easy, more fascinating, more delightful than a catalogue.

Je ne sais pas de lecture plus facile, plus attrayante, plus douce que celle d'un catalogue.

A people under the menace of war and of invasion is very easy to govern. It does not claim social reforms, it does not cavil over armaments or military equipment. It pays without haggling, it ruins itself at it, and that is excellent for the syndicates, the financiers, and the heads of industry to whom patriotic terrors open an abundant source of gain.

Si 50 millions de personnes disent une bêtise, c'est quand même une bêtise.

You become a good writer just as you become a good joiner: by planing down your sentences.

On devient bon écrivain comme on devient bon menuisier: en rabotant ses phrases.

When a thing has been said and well said, have no scruple: take it and copy it.

Quand une chose a été dite et bien dite, n'ayez aucun scrupule, prenez-la, copiez.

On croit mourir pour la patrie; on meurt pour les industriels.